PaperFections

Crafty Sales!

Hello, Crafty Peeps! I wanted to let you know about a few sales going on, so you don't miss out on some great products & savings! Since it's time to start thinking about your holiday crafting needs . . . Save 25% on the holiday stamps & dies in the Holiday Sale category (be sure to use the 'holiday18' code at checkout): And while you are shopping at Ellen Hutson LLC, don't forget about the 'Last Chance' clearance sale that's still going on (no code needed!): And the maker of my favorite combo stamp pad/marker/reinker holders (shown below) and Marker Nook holders, Stamp-N-Storage, is giving FREE SHIPPING on all orders this weekend, through midnight CDT on Monday! Shop HERE: I hope you have a beautiful Fall weekend! Read more →

Ommission Stamping with New Leading Ladies!

A new release from Brandi Kincaid exclusively for Essentials by Ellen is now available in the shop! You can see lots of inspiration on the "This Just In" page of the Ellen Hutson LLC website and on Ellen's the CLASSroom blog. There are two new Leading Lady stamp and coordinating die sets (Bookworm Lady and Holiday Shopper Lady), a great little Ugly Sweater Accessories stamp and coordinating die set, plus some great stand alone dies - Winter Window and Snowfall Backdrop! Today I'm using the Holiday Shopper Lady and the adorable Winter Window die. I always love thinking "outside the box", to find unusual and different ways to use my supplies. So while the Winter Window die would probably normally be used to look at an outdoor scene, I've created a scene of my Holiday Shopper Lady looking into a store window. She's doing a little sidewalk window shopping for her long holiday shopping list, waiting for the store to open so she can catch that big sale! Remember those commercials where everyone is crowded around the store doors, waiting for it to open,saying "Open-open-open"?!! To get this look, I did some selective inking of the Holiday Shopper Lady stamp... Read more →

Easy Stamped Watercolor Two Ways

Hello, Stampers! Today I have an easy stamped watercolor project to share that can be accomplished in two different ways. Isn't this new Mondo Holly stamp by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen absolutely gorgeous?!! I could not wait to get my hands on it, to color! Here's the easy way I've colored it today -- simply by using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers directly on the stamp -- shown on the cover of my Mist Stamping Tool below: I find the Misti a great tool for this type of project -- you can easily re-ink whatever parts of the stamp that may not stamp very well. The colors of markers I used were: Light Green, Green, Olive Green, Dark Pink, and Carmine Red. You can find all but the Dark Pink in this set of 24, or individually in Ellen's shop. Now here's where the two different ways come in: For the first style of stamped watercolor, I misted my watercolor paper with water FIRST, THEN stamped. In photo 1 below, you can see the paper still wet. The middle photo shows how the color bled a little more and I also moved some of the color around,... Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Retirement Sale!

Here's the sale you've been waiting for, crafty peeps! Get your favorite retiring Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies, before they are GONE for GOOD! Shop the Last Chance Sale category HERE or click the graphic above. Here are a few of my favorite past projects using some of these awesome stamps and dies: Using Sunshine word die: Using Stay Golden stamps and dies: Using Thankful stamp set: Using Elf'd stamps and dies: Using Prize Stag die, Have fun shopping! STAMPS & DIES ON SALE NOW AT ELLEN HUTSON LLC: Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Sunshine Word by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Stay Golden by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Stay Golden by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Thankful by Julie Ebersole (Retiring) Read more →

Over the River Sparkling Holiday Tags

Holiday seasons are in the air over at Ellen Hutson LLC! The September release is new in the shop, and full of Julie Ebersole's delightful humor and whimsical illustrations! Today I'm using the adorable Over the River stamp set and coordinting Over the River dies to create a set of holiday tags: I also used Julie's awesome Concertina Tag die set -- this die cuts three tags at once for you! For the tags below, I stamped the deer with Brushed Corduroy and polar bear with Hickory Smoke Distress inks so the ink would bleed a little whenever I applied the Nuvo Aqua Shimmer clear glitter gloss pen over it, creating a bit of shading. On the deer tag I stamped the trees in Evergreen Bough, Cracked Pistachio, and Twisted Citron, and the sentiment in Barn Door, all on Ellen's awesome Oyster Gray cardstock. The pine twig at the top was also shimmered and popped up on foam tape (as was the deer). The polar bear tag background was stencil brushed with Tumbled Glass Distress ink and a cloud stencil. The icy water was created by stamping the oval from Julie's new Winterscapes stamp set with Tumbled Glass Distress ink... Read more →

Emboss Resist Love You So Matcha!

Happy Friday, Friends! Today I wanted to revisit a favorite "oldie but goody" technique of mine, emboss resist -- especially since I'm absolutely LOVING the Claritystamp Stencil Brushes! Emboss resist is simply heat embossing (in this case, clear detail) stamped images onto cardstock (Neenah Solar White), then applying ink over the embossing. The embossed image(s) resist being colored with the ink ... thus, creating a very unique background! My favorite blending inks are Distress -- here I used an "ode to the end of Summer" combo of Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade, and Cracked Pistachio. The Claritystamp Stencil Brushes help give a very soft and very effortless blend! The Folk Heart was die cut from the center of the background panel before inking, so the ink catches the edges and really defines the shape! The sweet So Matcha kimono girl was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and her the main part of her kimono colored with Copic YG41 and G43 (shading) to match the inked background. Then I created a subtle floral pattern on the kimono using the tiny flower stamped with Cracked Pistacio. To finish the card, I die cut the So Matcha girl with her coordinating die and... Read more →

United We Flourish Sale at Ellen Hutson!

Hello, Crafters! I wanted to share an amazing United We Flourish sale happening this week at Ellen Hutson LLC! The United We Flourish line of stamps and dies are a wonderful collaboration between Ellen Hutson LLC and many of the stamp and die manufacturers she carries in her online store. Here are a few "oldies but goodies" projects of mine from this line: Be sure to shop early, for the best selection because when they are gone, they are GONE! You can find the United We Flourish line exclusively here at Ellen Hutson. Read more →

Teacher Time!

Here it is August and soon teachers and students will be going back to school. I made this card a little for those teachers and a little for my oldest daughter, who is headed off to be a college freshman in two short weeks (insert very proud but sad face here!). I thought this sentiment could work well for either: This new Teacher Lady Leading Lady by Brandi Kincaid for Essentials by Ellen is a great stamp set with lots of teacher OR student related accessories! I stamped all the images in black, then colored them with Copics in colors to match the colors in this great watercolor rainbow washi tape, which is on the inside of the card: Teacher Lady was die cut with her coordinating die and popped up over the background: The background panel was also popped up on the card front, with black Copic running down the left side of the card base, to resemble a composition notebook! Do you have a teacher or student that brightens your life? I think we all do! This stamp & die set is part of this month's August Essentials by Ellen release over at Ellen Hutson LLC. You'll find... Read more →

Always Be A Mermaid

My oldest daughter is off to college in a just a few short weeks, so we are in the midst of getting things together for her dorm room. While on a recent shopping trip she spotted a beautiful aqua decorative "mermaid" pillow and squealed with delight! Imagine my delight when I learned of mermaid pillows ... two-sided different colors of sequins which you can brush back and forth, creating wonderful patterns in them -- sparkling like a swimming mermaid! Needless to say, we now have some mermaid pillows in the house! :) That brings us to this custom piece of artwork that will be framed and will go in darling daughter's dorm room, to go with her mermaid pillow: Thank goodness Julie Ebersole created a new mermaid Inner Mermaid friend for her existing Essentials by Ellen Mermaid's Tail stamp set! I paired them swimming together, along with this absolutely fabulous sentiment in the new Inner Mermaid stamp set: I gold heat embossed all the images onto watercolor paper, then watercolored them with my favorite Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. A few clear droplets were the only thing needed to complete the piece, keeping the watercoloring the focus. Now to find the... Read more →

Watercolor Rainbow Shaker Card

Hello, crafty peeps! It's release day over at Ellen Hutson LLC and we have some Fantasmagorical new products to share today! What exactly is Fantasmagorical? Well, I will defer that question to Julie Ebersole, the creator of this stamp set, but I sure had a blast playing with her new Unicorns 'N Rainbows stamp set and coordinating dies! And evidently July is World Watercolor month, so I threw in some of that, too! ;-) To create this watercolor rainbow shaker card, I used a background of watercolor paper and brushed Tumbled Glass Distress Ink over a cloud stencil, using a fabulous new-to-me tool: Clarity Stencil Brushes! These amazing brushes give such a smooth and soft blend ... I'm totally hooked on them! Next, I stamped the adorable unicorn and his rainbow with Memento Gray Flannel ink onto more watercolor paper, then used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to watercolor them both. Then I used their coordinating Unicorns 'N Rainbows dies to cut them both. Next, I die cut a spot for my rainbow from the stenciled cloud panel, then stamped the awesome sentiment (from the new Pure Magic stamp set), using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I... Read more →

Stitched Stamping: United We Flourish Ellen Hutson & Waffle Flower

Hello, Crafters! After a little bit of a break Ellen Hutson's United We Flourish campaign is back, bringing you a beautiful stitching stamp and coordinating die set by Waffle Flower called Stitched Together: And here are some projects I created with it: This clear stamp set is a 5-step layering set that creates this beautiful world globe, filled with flowers and leaves as the land! You can download this stamping guide to assist you HERE: Your stamp guide or MISTI will be of great assistance for this set (especially when stamping multiple projects) but since it is clear, you can probably eyeball it just as easily. Here are some of my step-out photos, using my MISTI. I tried stamping the globe stand both ways, first and last, and ended up preferring stamping it last -- I felt it was easier to make sure the stand fit around the already-stamped globe. TIP: Either way, make sure the left side and bottom of the stand are lined up straight on your stamp guide or acrylic block. Here's the stand stamped last. I used Memento Summer Sky, Angel Pink (which I ended up changing to Rose Bud for my projects below), Bamboo Leaves,... Read more →

Beginner Simple Watercolor: Mondo Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)

Hello, Friends ... Happy Sunday! Today I have a simple 2 or 3-color watercolor technique to share with you, using the GORGEOUS new Mondo Sakura stamp set from Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen, available NOW! Tip for beginners: To color this beautiful floral image, first I heat embossed the image with gold detail embossing powder onto watercolor cardstock. The embossing helps to hold your colors within the lines and not bleed into other areas! Then I used Daniel Smith PrimaTek watercolors: Rhodonite (pink) and Jadeite (green). I simply watered down the pink color until it was very light and applied it to all of the flower petals, leaving some white space around the upper edges of each of the petals. Then I just gradually mixed in a little more of the pink color, to deepen the centers and lower edges of the petals. By gradually deepening the color, you can achieve wonderful shading with just one pigment! I did the same thing with the leaves and stems. Once the flowers were colored, I used Dandelion Kirarina WiNK pen to fill in the centers of the stamen. Optional: Add a third color to fill in the background. I used my... Read more →

Partial Die Cutting: Hot Mess!

By now you've heard the news: There are two new Leading Ladies over at Ellen Hutson LLC! These fabulous Ladies are the awesome creation of Brandi Kincaid, exclusively for the Essentials by Ellen line. Today I have another example of partial die cutting, along the right edge of this card: Here's how she was created: First, I used my Misti to stamp the Hot Mess Lady onto watercolor paper. The rough texture of watercolor paper sometimes prevents a crisp, fully stamped image. If that happens, it is easy to re-stamp the image again using the Misti! I'm loving my new bar magnets (wrapped with glitter tape for easy handling) and easy wipe mouse pad made for the Misti! Next, I placed my top die cutting pad along the right edge of the paper, where I wanted to cut away the area around Hot Mess's hand using her coordinating die. When you run this sandwich through your die cutting machine, it will only cut the paper where the top plate covers it: Next, use your paper trimmer to finish cutting a straight line above and below her arm, trimming away the excess: Here, I placed a piece of bright paper behind... Read more →

Partial Die Cutting: Everyday Hero!

Hello and happy Sunday ... There are some new Leading Ladies in town today! Just in time for Mother's Day, or any occasion you may have for any of the "Leading Ladies" in your life! Here's how this top-hinged, partially die cut card came together . . . First, I stamped Everyday Hero with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White cardstock panel. If I had known how I would finish this card, I would have stamped her onto a top-folding card base, so take note of that if you would like to re-create this card! :) Then I colored her with these Copic Sketch Markers: (Not photographed - Skin: E00, E11, E121); Pictured below - Shirt: R22, R24, R27; Jeans: B21 (Pictured below) - Jeans: B23, B26; Cape & Headband/Crown: Y08, YR21, YR23, E33; Hair: T0, T1, T2, T6 Then I partially die cut just her legs by placing my top die cutting plate only over the lower portion of the panel I wanted cut away. Using a ruler, I placed pencil marks across the bottom of the panel where I wanted to cut away the lower quarter (you can see those just above the... Read more →

Circle Stamping

Spring has sprung, friends, and I've been in a very floral mood recently! From planting flowers in my yard, to "planting" them on paper, too! I spent a few evenings of Spring Break in our hotel room stamping and coloring, and these were some results: I've been wanting to try my hand at circle (or wreath) stamping and came up with a template similar to an awesome idea and tool Gina K created with her wreath builder kit and template. Until such time as her template is back in stock and I can get my hands on it, here's a look at the template I created: I used a 6" square piece of X-Press It Stencil Sheet (made of thick vinyl with repositionable adhesive on the back). Or another great product to make the template with would have been Ellen Hutson's Art Magnetic Masking Material -- especially with use in the magnetic MISTI! Note: You will need to use the original MISTI if using a 6-inch square template, as the 6-inch template will not fit into the Mini MISTI. Then I cut two 4-inch squares in the stencil material, using my paper trimmer (I used a 4-inch cut piece of... Read more →